RyansWorld: United States of Venus
Special Note: Please note that this scenario is meant to be read as entertainment, not as an accurate prediction of the future. Also note that the viewpoints and opinions that may come across in this scenario are not necessarily the viewpoints and opinions of the author. The United States of Venus is considered to be the social pariah of the Sol Galaxy by the middle of the 23rd century. With the First Galactic War leaving them economically devastated, they have to rely on internal economic aid from the rest of the Republic of Sol. Becoming an independent planet from the United States of Earth was a long and complicated diplomatic process that was aided by the United States of Mars, who shared the same common beliefs towards government and allied with each other as early as the late 22nd century. Unlike Mars, the Venusian rebels decided to use "passive resistance" against the U.S.E. forces; resulting in them gaining independence ten year later than the United States of Mars. Women on this planet rarely wear trousers despite making more money on average than their husbands/live-in boyfriends. They are more likely seen in sweater/long skirt ensembles or in long elegant dresses reminiscent of late 20th century formal wear. Summary During the First Galactic War, they formed the Rebel Empire along with the United States of Mars; promising better government through centralized nationalism. The Sol Alliance (the Lunar Protectorate and the United States of Earth) brought down the Rebel Empire in a stalemate-making battle. The Battle of Toronto was started from Venus; resulting in the permanently loss of the cultural metropolis of Toronto, Canadamerica (once called York, Upper Canada). A statue of Gandhi was installed in the main capital prior to the First Galactic War, taken down during the "long conflict," and was restored to its original place in the year 2369. Venus was considered to be a lush but impoverished garden until the Economic Miracle of 2594; where the unemployment rate suddenly dropped from 40% to 4% in two Earth months. Fuel taxes are more expensive here than on Earth or Mars and the temperatures on the equivalent of Earth's July get as high as 40 degrees Celsius. A good portion of the population would be lucky to make a wage roughly equivalent to an entry-level service sector job on the United States of Earth. During the late Third Millenium (2751-3000), jobs in the electronics industry in addition to Internet-related jobs and green renewable energy started to be relocated to the United States of Venus; resulting in an even bigger economic boom for the Venusian people. Professional wrestling with nudity and graphic violence is the most popular form of entertainment on this planet since the Venusian government decided not to adhere to the Better Entertainment Act of 2018. While television is not illegal on Venus, watching pornographic movies is frowned upon and can result in the confiscation of your television set. Nearly a dozen generations of Venusian residents had to deal with dial-up Internet due to their extreme levels of poverty; with their descendants changing over to broadband Internet access around 2604 due to the economic miracle. People from outside this planet once referred to Venus as the United States of CheapNet. Radio is more popular than television in the workplace due to safety issues and conservative-minded employers. Everyone lives within a 15-minute walking distance from a public library and everyone over the age of 15 has advanced literacy skills. Their government is completely pacifistic, relying on the nearby United States of Earth for help. They do not even field a small robotic army. Arming the local populace is against the Universal Peace Charter of 2037; as Venus must comply with most laws given to them by the Republic of Sol. While members of the Venusian Parliament argue that repealing the amendment will lower unemployment rates and improve the planetary economy, opponents argue that a repeated attempt at starting galactic warfare would be worse than the Second World War, the Canadian Civil War, and the First Galactic War combined. Cities Venus City is the largest city on Venus; housing 80 million residents and holding 80% of the planet's economic wealth and 80% of the planet's wealthiest citizens. It also holds Venus's only spaceport designed for passenger travel; the infamous Port of Venus where the security is considered to be 1000 times harsher than the security at a early-2010s U.S. international airport. Billionaires and multi-billionaires can be seen living in downtown Venus City; attending monthly state dinners with the mostly female politicians. When the guest of honor cannot commit a journey to Venus, the dinner is done on the main consular ship SS Jennifer Martinez in a spot that is approximately halfway to Venus and the honored guest's home planet. The dress code for these events are white tie as stated by the Monthly State Dinner Act of 2155. Venus Internet City is considered to be the government owned ISP for the planet in addition to being one of the important hubs of industry. Seniors, the disabled and the families of K-12 students get free unlimited Internet access through VIC. The city physically has 800,009 residents; all of them are employees for the Internet company. Homeschooled students are considered to be the same as K-12 students in terms of Internet coverage. Venus Tourist City is a city that exists in the virtual reality world. People "enter" the city through a giant gateway that transfers their physical bodies into a digital avatar for a certain number of nights. Once inside, the scenery and temperatures are equivalent to that of Earth in the mid-20th century along with the abundant virtual wildlife that is included in the simulation. By the year 3000, Venus Tourist City becomes a hit with tourists from several dozen galaxies and is listed on the Intergalactic Web (successor to the World Wide Web) as "the most awesome place to travel to." Society Most men are not fond of the state dinners and would rather bond with their children while the wives are out running the political affairs of the planet. All out-of-planet state dinners occur on Venus' main consular starship: the SS Jennifer Martinez. In the Venusian media, men are often depicted cooking meals, doing housework and changing diapers while the women are working at office jobs, attending to business/politics and tending to the robots that do the manual labor (a.k.a dirty jobs) on Venus. Gridiron football on this planet is played exclusively by women in power armor resembling 12th century medieval European knights. Most husbands will adopt this mantra in their lives: I am subordinate to my wife because she is the head of the family; just as philosophy is the head of scientific endeavors. A man is never to be independent of female authority. First, he is under his mother’s authority, and then under his wife’s authority. A widower would be under his daughter’s authority, or, if he had no daughters or his daughters were young, he would return to his mother’s authority unconditionally. For the tiny minority that chooses to believe in God, the legally accepted dogma portrays God as genderqueer and lacking in either complete masculinity or complete femininity. God is never refered to as Him or Her; always as They, Them, Hir or Ze. The average family size on Venus is 5.2 children for the working class and 2.5 children for the rich. Everyone is eligible for Old Age Security once he/she is 85 years old; as long as they never had a criminal record, substance abuse problem or a mental illness. The average female life expectancy on Venus is 128 for females and 125 for males as of July 1, 2314. When the first generation of colonists to Venus came in the late 2040s, the average female life expectancy was only 64 years and males only lived 62.5 years on average. Would you live on the United States of Venus? Yes, if there are the right kind of jobs for me. Yes, but only if my friends came along with me. Not until I win the lottery again win millions of dollars. No, because I don't want to lose my friends and I don't want to have to start over in a strange planet. What would you hate the worst about the United States of Venus? The weather is too warm. I don't like the history of this planet. I don't like the price of fuel. Nothing Category:RyansWorld Category:United States of Venus Category:Venus colonies